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But the decision proved controversial, with Nunthorpe Parish Council’s Ken Tomlinson saying it had been made in the face of “overwhelming local opposition”.

As a result, the executive’s decision was called-in to scrutiny after several councillors and residents claimed public consultation had been ignored and the scheme itself was flawed, because “it would fail to ease congestion”.

'Patronising'

On August 2, Cllr Jon Rathmell, independent councillor for Nunthorpe, told the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Board that there had been a lack of “valued consultation” over the plans.

He went on to give a scathing view of the council’s consultation process, describing it as a “tick box exercise” used to legitimise a pre-determined conclusion.

Characterising the process as patronising, Cllr Rathmell likened it to being “patted on the head like a child while the council says ‘there you go, you’ve had your consultation, but we don’t have to listen to you’.

“That is the attitude,” he added.

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But Cllr Lewis Young, the executive member for economic development and infrastructure, said there had been, in total, a six-month consultation with residents after himself and Mayor Budd decided to extend the initial three-month consultation to ensure all views could be accounted for.

As a result, Cllr Young said the consultation had taken on board the views of people who the local authority had no statutory obligation to consider.

Ultimately, the call-in failed to have the matter sent back to the executive by a narrow margin of four votes to three.

'Limited in detail'

Now, opposition councillors are trying once again to have alternatives considered.

A letter sent to the council’s monitoring officer, Bryn Roberts, says: “We, the undersigned wish to debate the proposed scheme which has been approved by the executive of Middlesbrough Council.

“The proposal was put out to consultation in such a way that it was disorganised, limited in detail and only allowed a small number of residents impacted by the scheme to respond.

“It has been widely acknowledged by the Mayor that this proposed scheme will not improve anything therefore, we believe that the electorate who were consulted and responded, should be listened to.

“It is ‘unacceptable to do nothing’ has been repeatedly quoted and we agree, but it is also unacceptable to implement a scheme at a cost of £1.7m recklessly.”

The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 5, at 8pm although it may begin earlier if the ordinary 7pm council meeting finishes before then.